Yongridan-gil tteokbokki shop, Buldak-level spicy combo: Hyeonseonine

Today it's deliciously spicy tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes) with fried snacks, sundae (Korean blood sausage) and the whole snack-bar lineup! I visited Hyeonseonine Yongsan Main Branch (현선이네 용산본점), a Yongridan-gil favorite with a wait.

Where is Hyeonseonine Yongsan Main Branch, and when is it open?

Hyeonseonine Yongsan Main Branch is a 5-minute walk from Sinyongsan Station, at 2-13 Hangang-daero 39-gil, Yongsan-gu, Seoul. It's open daily from 11:00 to 24:00 (last order 22:40). For parking, use the paid lots nearby.

I loved the pojangmacha (street-tent bar) feel of the place, and it was a brand I'd never seen before..! Turns out it already has lots of company-run branches, haha.

Seating and the wait at Hyeonseonine Yongsan Main Branch

Inside, there are tables for 2 and tables for 4. Even though I visited late in the evening, people were waiting in line, which shows how popular this Yongridan-gil spot is.

Hyeonseonine menu and how to order at the kiosk

There's no separate menu board; the menu items are posted on the refrigerator, and you order at the kiosk! We ordered the Hyeonseonine Combo Set for ₩25,000 and a Coolpis slush (a sweet, yogurt-flavored drink) for ₩2,000.

They also serve instant tteokbokki (cooked at the table), so I'd love to try that next time, haha.

The self-bar has soy sauce, salt, pickled radish and small plates.

What comes in the Hyeonseonine Combo Set?

The Hyeonseonine Combo Set (₩25,000) comes with tteokbokki, fried snacks and sundae, plus mini gimbap (seaweed rice rolls) and fish cake, so it's a seriously generous amount!! Beyond the classic tteok-twigim-sundae trio, you get gimbap and fish cake too, haha. What a lineup~~

How spicy is Hyeonseonine's spicy tteokbokki?

The spicy level wasn't just Buldak-hot as I'd imagined; it felt like super-duper-nuclear Buldak. Tteokbokki is Hyeonseonine's signature, with mild, regular and spicy levels. We like it hot, so we ordered spicy and got thoroughly punished this time...! LOL

I was shocked at the first bite. But it wasn't just painful heat; it was deeply savory and delicious, and the addictiveness was really great~

Dipping the fish cake deep into the spicy sauce melted away all of that day's stress~

Mini gimbap, perfect for cooling the heat

The mini gimbap uses back-to-basics fillings like egg, spinach, crab stick, ham and pickled radish, and eaten with the tteokbokki sauce it was so good.

When it got too hot, I ate it plain to soothe my overstimulated tongue, haha. The gimbap with its nutty sesame oil aroma was really tasty too.

Sundae and innards, ordered mixed

For the combo's sundae, we ordered the mix of sundae and innards. The sundae itself is tasty, but I also love the innards.

The glutinous-rice sundae had a familiar flavor, but the glass noodles inside weren't dry and were cooked moist, so it was really good.

The innards had a wonderfully chewy texture too~

Liver is often dry in many places, but at Hyeonseonine it was chewy, with a rich liver aroma that spread through the mouth, and it was really delicious~ It went perfectly with the tteokbokki sauce.

What fried snacks come in the Hyeonseonine Combo Set?

The combo's fried snacks were vegetable fritters, squid fritters, gimmari (glass-noodle seaweed rolls), sweet potato and dumplings. They came out really crispy, and with such variety the combo looked like truly great value for what you get.

The amount of fried snacks was plenty for two~ Dip them in the tteokbokki sauce like this..! That's the classic tteok-twigim-sundae combo, hahaha. It had been a while since I'd had Korean snack food, and it was so good. There's a reason there's a wait, of course..!

Fish cake broth and a Coolpis slush to tame the heat

Hyeonseonine's fish cake broth had great savory depth and tamed the spice well, so I enjoyed it a lot, LOL.

The fish cake was chewy and delicious, and the rice cakes in it, like mulddeok (plain rice cakes served in broth), had a soft flavor that calmed the heat, which I loved.

Partway through it got so hot that I ordered a Coolpis slush (₩2,000) to refresh my mouth, and that let me fully enjoy the spice~

Is Hyeonseonine Yongsan Main Branch worth it for spicy tteokbokki?

At Hyeonseonine Yongsan Main Branch, I loved getting wildly spicy yet delicious tteokbokki plus lots of other snack-bar dishes at good value!! It had been a while since I'd had Korean snack food, and a spot with a wait really does stand out~ If you're visiting Yongridan-gil and want snack food..! I really recommend Hyeonseonine, a Yongridan-gil favorite with superb spice.